Direct-indirect reversible luminaire



Jan. 8, 1957 w. L. LIPSCOMB DIRECT-INDIRECT REVERSIBLE LUMINAIRE Filed Sept. 28, 195,6

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MINT, FOR "Pl-KM United States Patent 2,777,053 DIRECT-INDIRECT REVERSIBLE LUMINAIRE wnns L. Lipscomb,.San Diego, alii.

Application September 28, 1953, Serial No. 382,571 "scams. or. Mil-78) The present invention relates generally to lighting fixtures and more particularly to direct-indirect reversible luminaire.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a luminaire having a plurality of angularly disposed longitudinal slats which are assembled in a novel manner so as to be invertible, thus allowing the luminaire to be used for direct or indirect lighting.

Another'object of this invention is to provide a lurni-' naire which can be collapsed and/or partially disassembled to facilitate shipping and storage.

Another object of this invention is to provide a luminaire in which the slats are flexibly suspended and are easily detached for cleaning, adjusting or reversing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a luminaire in which the slats are supported and designed so that light weight material may be used in fabricating them, this material being translucent to provide semi-indirect diffused lighting. 7

Another object of. this invention is to provide a luminaire which is especially suitable for fluorescent lamps and which may be installed end-to-end in series for strip lighting.

Another object of-this invention is to provide a luminaire which is inexpensive and practicable to manufacture.

Finally, it is an object to provide a luminaire of the aforementioned character which is simple, safe and convenient to operate, and which will give generally efiicient and durable service.

With these and otherobjects definitely in view, this invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions,'as will be hereinafter fully described in the claims, and illustrated in the drawings which form a material part of this disclosure and wherein similar characters of reference indicate similar or identical elements and portions through- 1 out the specification and throughout the views of the drawings, and in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation view, partially sectioned, of the luminaire. I

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l, the representation of the ball chains in this figure, as well as in Figs. 3, and 6, being somewhat diagrammatic.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the slats reversed.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4--d of Fig. 3 showing the arrangement of the pivoted support elements for the slats.

5 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 showing a simplified form of structure utilizing a similar arrangement of slats.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 5, but showing the slats reversed.

Fig. '7 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view, partially cut away, showing the method of retainingthe ends of the flexible suspension elements.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view pleasing appearance.

showing the detachable upper ends of the flexible suspension elements used in Figs. 5 and 6.

Referring now to the drawing, the luminaire comprises an elongated hollow ballast box 10 which constitutes the main supporting element for the fixture. Suspended from this ballast box 10 are the lamp shielding elements which include a pair of upper slats 12, a pair of intermediate slats id and a lower slat 16, all of which are interconnected by means of flexible suspension elements. These suspension elements may take various forms but a preferred form is represented by the chains 18. Attached to the underside of the ballast box 10 is a cover plate 20 on which the lamp 22 is supported in conventioned sockets 2d.

The ballast box 10 is essentially an inverted U-shaped channel having inwardly turned flanges 25 along the lower edges thereof. The ballast'box is fitted with end plates 23 in which are standard knock-out panels 30, so that the fixtures may be installed end to end and the wiring continued from one to the next through the apertures. Secured along one side 32 of the ballast box 10 is a support angle 34 the outer edge of which is slightly upturned as indicated at 36. Along the other side 33 of the ballast box 1% are a plurality of pivoted support arms 49, which are pivotally attached to the adjacent flange 26 and are spaced therefrom by a packing strip 42. The support arms as extend outwardly through slots 44 in the side 38, the ends of said arms having upturned lugs 46 of generally arcuate shape at one side thereof.

The upper slats 12 are attached to end plates 43 which holds said slats at their correct angular disposition as shown in Fig. 2. The upper slat 12 have upwardly rolled inner edges 5'0, the rolled edge of one of said slats resting on the support angle 34, while the rolled edge of the other upper slat rests on the support arms 49 which are extended substantially at right angles to the ballast box It).

The-intermediate slats 14 have rolled inner edges 52 and are suspended a short distance below the upper slats 12. The lower slat 16 is substantially a shallow U-shape in cross section, the sloping surfaces 54 being parallel to the upper slats l2 and intermediate slats .14. All of the slats are provided. with suitable apertures 56 through which the chains 18 are passed, said chains being arranged in pairs at intervals along the slats. The chains 18, which are of the ball and link type, are retained at each slat by fitting a split ball cover 58 over the ball 60 adjacent the slat surface, as shown in Fig. 7. These ball covers 58 are too large to pass through the apertures 56, thus the slats may be held at the required positions on the chains.

It will be seen that the width of the lower slat 16 is substantially less than the width of the upper portion of the end plate 48, the intermediate slats 14 being positioned so that the sides of the fixture slope inwardly for a more The end plates 48 have flanged sloping edges 62 which conform to the shape of the fixture, the flanged lower edges 64 of said end plates being shaped to fit the lower slat 16. The flanges on the sloping edges 62 and the lower edge 64 serve to hold the slats in position when the fixture is assembled.

.The cover plate 20 isfastened to the. flanges 26 by means of screws 66 and is thus readily removable for ac cess to the lamp ballast 68 and its associated wiring which are installed in the ballast box 10.

The luminaire as illustrated in Fig. 2 provides semidirect lighting, the lamp 22 being shielded from below and at the sides by the arrangement of the slats. If desired, the slats may be made of translucent plastic or the like, in which case diffused direct light will be provided in addition to the indirect light.

In order to remove the slats for access to the lamp or for cleaning purposes, the upper slat 12 resting on the support arms 40 is first raised so that said support arms may be retracted into the slots 44. The free upper slat Patented Jan. 8, 1957 is now lowered clear of the ballast box :and the remaining upper slat 12 is disengaged from the support angle 34, so that the entire slat assembled may be removed.

rangement being shown in Fig.3. In this particular case,

the end plates 48are replacedby reduced end plates 70 to ,whichthc upper slats 12 are attached,

The rollededges 50,, of the upper slats 12, which are now downwardly turned, rest on the support angle 34 and the support arms so that said upper slats are disposed angularly downwardly therefrom. The end plates 70 have flanged sloping edges 72 which conform to the angle, of the upper slats 12. It will be seen that the support arms 40 are pivoted inwardly in Figs. 3 and 4, so that the lugs 46 fit within the hollow of the rolled edge 50 to retain the upper shit 12 in its correct position. The intermediate slats 14 and the lower slat 16 are suspended in inverted position below the upper slats 12in a manner similar to that described above.

The reduced end plates may be used with the semidirect luminaire assembly if desired, their position being shown dotted in Fig.2. By doing this, the same parts may be assembled in either manner for direct or semidirect lighting as required.

A simplified luminaire structure utilizing similar basic components is shown in Figs. 5- and 6., The ballast box 74 is substantially the same as the ballest box 10 and is provided with stem hangers 76 or the like [or suspension from a ceiling or similar surface. It should be noted that all forms of the lu'minaire described herein may be suspended by such stem hangers, or by attaching the ballast box directly to a suitable supporting surface. The actual method of installation is not considered to be an essential feature of this disclosure.

The simplified luminaire has a unitary upper slat 78 which also serves the purpose of the cover plate 20, said upper slathaving a flat center portion 80 and upwardly sloping side portions 82, the'outer edges of which:are rolled as indicated at 84. The center portion 80 is fastened to the ballast box 74 by means of screws 86, said center portion also carrying the lamp 22 and sockets 24. i

The intermediate slats 88 and the lower slat 90, which are similar to the above mentioned slats 14 and 16 respectively, are suspended below the upper slat 78 by means of flexible chains 18. The upper slat .78 being fixed in this case, means is provided for disengaging the chains 18 therefrom so that the lower slat structure may be removed for accessto the lamp. This means may take the form of keyhole slots 92 as illustrated in Fig. 8, said slots having a central opening 94 large enough to pass the split ball covers 58, and notches 96 extending from said opening, in which the chains 18 are retained. With 1 this particular arrangement no end plates are necessary,

the slats being held in position by the rigid upper slat 78.

This simplified luminaire is also reversible as illustrated in Fig. 6, the upper slat 78 merely being reversed on the underside of the ballast box 74, and the remaining slats correspondingly reversed on the chains 18. In this particulars'tructure, the upper slat 78, which is directly attached to the lamp and ballast assembly, is preferably of heat resistant material such as metal having a white enamelled reflective surface or the like. The intermediate slats 88 and the lower slat may be of translucent plastic as previously described.

It will be evident that the basic structural elements of the luminaire are easily assembled to provide direct, semi-direct, or a combination of direct and indirect lighting as required. The flexible suspension of the slats prevents damage to the luminaire by absorbing any inadvertent blows against the structure. Furthermore, individual components are easily .replaced if damaged, and accessibility for servicing or repair is facilitated by the demountable nature of the construction.

It is understood that minor variation from the forms of the invention disclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit'and scope of the invention, and that the specification anddrawing are to be considered as merely illustrative rather than limiting.

I claim:

1. A luminaire comprising an elongated hollow mounting member, a lamp operatively mounted on said membsr, plurality of substantially parallel, elongated slats, flexible suspension means interconnecting said slats in vertically spaced relation, the uppermost only of said slats being removably attached to said mounting member, said slats being longitudinally horizontal and transversely incliued upwardly and outwardly at an acute angle to the horizontal, said slats being individually invertible on said mounting member and said suspension means to incline downwardly and outwardly at the same acute angle to the horizontal.

2. A luminaire comprising an elongated horizontally disposed mounting member, means for operatively mounting a horizontally elongated lamp on the underside of said member, a pair of opposed elongated upper slats, mounting means for attaching said slats to said member at the sides thereof selectively in transversely outwardlyupwardly inclined, position and in inverted outwardly downwardly inclined position, intermediate and lower slats, and suspension means to suspend said intermediate and lower slatsfrom said upper slats selectively in inclined positions corresponding with said positions of the upper slats.

3. A luminaire according to claim 2 wherein said suspension means comprises flexible linear elements secured to and extending between the slats, all said slats being removable from and replaceable on said linear elements for manual and individualinversion thereof to change the angles at which unreflected light can emerge laterally from the luminaire.

4. A luminaire according to claim 2 wherein said memher is an inverted U-shaped channel with cover plate on the underside thereof, the first mentioned means constituting said cover plate, and said upper slats being unitary with the lateral edge portions of said cover plate.

5. A luminaire according to claim 2 wherein said lower slat is a shallow U-shape in transverse vertical, cross section, the lateral portions thereof being parallel to the other slats.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,513,489 Calhoun Oct. 28, 1924 1,741,658 Sakier Dec. 31, 1929 2,545,058 Walsh Mar. 13, 1951 2,625,648 Zenda Jan. 13, 1953 2,667,117 Millard Jan. 26, 1954 2,670,430 Leonard Feb. 23, 1954 2,714,154 Johnson July 26, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 446,328 Great Britain Apr. 27, 1936 

